A shot in the heel

A shot in the heel

Plantar Fasciitis update

I went to see Dr. Hester this morning for my follow up.  Dr. Hester has shepherded me through Achilles tendonitis in both feet, Achilles tendonosis, and a broken ankle in the last decade.  (He did refuse to work on my broken knee in that same time period because he only deals with below the knee! – but I’ll let that slide)

I have a certain level of trust with Dr. Hester.  He’s knows what I do and understands my lifestyle choices are the same as many of the weekend warriors he sees. I’m at a different level.

The Plantar Fasciitis injury has retained significant inflammation since the initial visit.  My over-achieving mountain bike training and racing probably didn’t help.  I knew it wasn’t getting better.  The anti-inflammatories, massage and night splint have had little impact.

It can’t heal until the inflammation goes away.  Worse , the longer it stays inflamed the more scar tissue and hardening takes place.

This morning, in light of this lack of progress we decided it was time to try a cortisone shot.  The cortisone does a number of things.  It brings the swelling down.  It breaks up the scar tissue.  It also weakens the healthy tissue.  It also hurts like hell!

Ladies and gentlemen this is your opportunity to act macho.  Bring a shot of rot-gut and a bullet to bite on because this sucker is going to light you up!  Your foot has a lot of nerves in it and the cortisone as it is injected burns like a son-of-a-gun, lighting up all the nerve in the bottom of your foot.  Yee-hah!

Now what?  Well I’m going to stop the riding and try to minimize the use of the foot. Meet it half way so to speak .  It’s hard for a type-A person like me, especially with all the travel I do.  There’s just a ton of walking and standing involved.

I’m not too discouraged because I take the long view.  If I’m lucky I’ve got 3-4 more decades of running in me and there will be ups and downs.

In terms of replacement therapy, I’m going to keep my intense full-body workouts going every other day.  I may have to go back to the pool.  I’m also going to try some full-on meditation.  Any of you yogis out there have any tips for me throw them over!

My biggest risk here is not that I won’t get better.  That’s just a matter of time, treatment and patience. My biggest risk is the mood impact of not getting my fix.  I depend on those daily doses of happy running chemicals to put me in a cheery state of mind.  That’s the struggle for me.  Let’s use this as a learning opportunity and see what we can get out of it, shall we?

At this point let me ask your forgiveness for when I’m grumpy, down-cast, blue, sad and desultory in the coming weeks.  It’s not me.  It’s having to go cold turkey.  Woe is me!

I’ve also got to aggressively think about my calories in and fight a good rearguard action on that front to prevent balloonification.  So many awful things to worry about!  Breathe.  Relax.  Take the long view.  It’s going to be ok.

I go back in 3 weeks for the follow up. Until then I’ll try to go easy on it as I limp through airports.  Wish me well and if you’re religious pray for me.  Is there a patron saint of Plantar?